Two Different Worlds

As a dual-degree MBA/MPH student focusing on global health, I operate between two different worlds in the schools I attend, the locations where my classes are held, the people I interact with, the content of my studies, and the underlying principles behind each degree. My time at the business school is driven by profits, efficiency, and management whereas the underlying drivers at the school of public health are care, aid, and social benefit. I love bridging both these worlds and I think there are so many important things that each area of work can learn from each other. I can only imagine that greater progress could be made in global health if problems could be looked at from both a “business” and a “public health” perspective because there are pros and cons to each. However, it is sometimes very difficult to figure out how to get people coming from these different worlds to speak the same language.

This has been illustrated during our visits in India through interactions with many different organizations and even through experiencing what life is like for the more than billion people who live here. Everything is extreme, most significantly, the contrast between rich/poor, city/rural, and educated/uneducated. In our class visits, the differences between government run facilities and non-profit organizations and for-profit or corporate entities has also been striking (a difference not unique to India). On one particular day we visited a very well intentioned non-profit organization that cared deeply about their cause but was not able to provide us with details on their cost structure or finances. They had the desire to do good for those who need it but their disorganization may have prevented them from effectively accomplishing their goals. Following that visit, we went to a very successful multi-national corporation that has the resources to make a huge positive impact but it was clear that that was not their priority. On the other hand, some of our visits have given me hope that the worlds of global public health and business can speak the same language. We learned about a venture that Novartis has implemented which benefits the bottom of the pyramid but also makes a profit. Tomorrow, we will visit GE India and learn about low-cost medical devices that are a key part of providing health care at a low cost. It is exciting to me to learn about these success stories because I believe that they will pave the way for the future of global health not just in India, but it countries all over the world.